By Sungwoo Park
Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Corn declined after plunging the most in three weeks yesterday as a worsening global recession curtails demand for the crop used in food and livestock feed. Soybeans were little changed.
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said euro-region countries may be forced to bail out other members of the 16- nation bloc that face problems refinancing their debt. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials yesterday touched the lowest since June 2002. U.S. soybean processing fell 8.8 percent in January as demand slowed for soybean meal.
“Demand has frozen,” said C.S. Oh, head of the overseas futures team with NH Investment & Futures in Seoul. “The situation in Europe is really bad as concerns over liquidity, especially in grain-rich East Europe, are mounting and the U.S. is suffering.”
Corn for May delivery fell 0.2 percent to $3.5825 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 11:25 a.m. Seoul time. The contract tumbled 3.8 percent yesterday, the biggest loss since Jan. 27. The grain has fallen for six straight weeks and is down 55 percent from a record $7.9925 on June 27.
Soybeans for May delivery were little changed at $9.05 a bushel after dropping to as low as $9.005 yesterday, the lowest for a most-active contract since Dec. 24. The price has dropped 45 percent from a record $16.3675 on July 3.
Processors including Bunge Ltd. and Archer Daniels Midland Co. crushed 139.1 million bushels of soybeans last month, down from 152.44 million a year earlier, the National Oilseed Processors Association said yesterday in a report.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sungwoo Park in Seoul at spark47@bloomberg.net.
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